Mountains Apart (Mills & Boon Heartwarming) (22 page)

Emily felt tears sting her eyes and she looked away.

“Emily,” Aidan said as he approached them. “Is everything okay?”

Bering cursed softly and then spoke sharply without looking away from Emily, “Give us a minute—”

She looked at Aidan, wanting to reassure him. “It's fine, Aidan.”

“Aidan?” Bering said, turning now to take a good look at him. “Aidan... Oh, right, you guys look so much alike.”

Emily huffed impatiently and pointed at him. “Yes, this is Aidan, my brother. Forgive my rudeness in skipping the introductions. Bering, what are doing here—” she blurted, noticing then what he was holding in his hand. “Is that my scarf? How did you...?”

“Um, I wanted to bring it to you. Amanda said you didn't leave it on purpose.”

Emily swallowed down the bubble of hope that had started to rise within her. “You came all the way from Alaska to bring me my scarf?”

“Amanda said you were looking for it and I thought maybe that meant—”

“What, Bering? You thought it meant what?” Her voice was choked with emotion.

He stepped toward her and wrapped the scarf around her neck. “I thought maybe it meant that you didn't leave it on purpose.”

She gripped the ends of the scarf and squeezed her eyes shut for a few seconds. She opened them and started to speak in a strangled voice. “Bering, no, I didn't. I—”

“Emily—” he began, but then fell silent as he stared deeply into her eyes. “I didn't know Franklin Campbell was your stepfather. I knew Strathom's name because of the research I'd done on Cam-Field before you ever showed up in Rankins. But I didn't know your relationship to him or to Franklin Campbell. Emily, I never would have let the senator make that announcement if I'd known.... And then I found your scarf lying on the floor and I thought that you'd left it....”

Emily reached for his hand and held it tightly.

“From the day we met and you stripped your clothes off in front of me...”

She still held on to one end of the scarf and Bering closed his hand over hers. “What are you saying, Bering?”

“I love you, Emily.”

“Oh, Bering,” she whispered. “I love you, too.”

Bering tugged on the end of the scarf, gently pulling until she bumped lightly against his chest. He took her into his arms.

“My sister's a stripper?” Aidan looked toward Amanda and frowned.

“No, no, it wasn't like that,” she said. “She was on drugs.”

“Oh, drugs, yeah, of course,” he said drily. “That explains it—a druggie and a stripper. Who
are
you people anyway?”

* * *

B
ERING
 
WANTED
 
TO
 
get married on the ship, but Emily refused. They were lounging side by side on deck chairs outside her cabin, with the scarf resting on her lap. At least she'd agreed to marry him, though.

“Emily, I brought Janie and Tag and Amanda with me, and your brother is already here. Who else could you possibly want to be here?”

“It's not that, Bering.”

“Is it your parents? Because they could meet us at the next port, too, and anyone else that you want—”

“No, no, that's not it, although that's incredibly sweet.”

“What is it, then?”

“I want to get married somewhere that means something to me.”

Bering sighed. “All right, as soon as we get back to San Diego, we'll make the arrangements. Is there a church or a country club or something that you have in mind?”

“Ugh,” she said with a groan, “it would take months to plan a wedding like that.”

Bering kissed her. “Emily, I don't want to wait months, but I will do whatever you want. At least then my mom could be there and maybe even some of my aunts and uncles and some cousins—”

“Bering, they can all be there.”

“Yeah, I know. But it's not just the expense of flying everyone in—it's the logistics of it. Everyone getting time off work and kids out of school—”

“I want to get married in Rankins.”

Bering bolted to a sitting position. “What? Emily, really? Are you sure?”

“There are three churches in Rankins, right? If we can't get one on such short notice, maybe we could get married at the VFW where the Rotary auction was held. Or the inn—does Shay do weddings? Oh, Bering, let's get married at the inn.”

Bering kissed her again. It was too much. She was too much. The happiness he felt, after all the weeks of misery. It just couldn't be possible to have everything now, could it?

“Emily, that would be so...so...perfect. When are you going back to work at Cam-Field? Because that would give me time to pack some stuff and make arrangements and—”

“And what, Bering? Move to San Diego? Give up your business and your work with the Department of Fish and Game? You would do that for me?”

“Maybe we could work something out where I just give up the Department of Fish and Game stuff. I don't do it for the money anyway. I do it because I enjoy it and I find it interesting. But if I gave it up, then I could spend the winter here with you and then I could go back up for the summer—”

“No way,” Emily said aghast. “And live apart all summer? And what about the spring fishing season and hunting in the fall? Are you crazy?”

“Emily, I'm willing to work something out. But I don't know what I would do in San Diego. I can't get a regular job—like in an office...”

Emily laughed. “Bering, the look of terror on your face is absolutely priceless.” Then she said, “Why does no one believe that I'm not going back to Cam-Field? Franklin is still sending me a paycheck. I haven't even cashed them, but he still won't get the message.”

She sat up and grabbed Bering's chin and turned his face toward hers. “I love you so much for your brave, albeit ridiculous, attempt at compromise.” She feathered a soft kiss across his lips. “I want to live in Rankins, Bering. I miss it and that's what I want. I've never felt more at home anywhere in my life than I did there.”

“But I thought you hated it.”

She placed a hand on each of his shoulders. “I did at first—or I thought I did. Until you...and this.” She tapped on his chest. “And this.” She leaned over and kissed his chin. “And your family.” She kissed his cheek. “And your wolves,” She kissed his lips. “And your moose.” She kissed him again. “And your seafood, and your ugly, puffy clothes that kept me impossibly warm, and the salt that kept me from slipping on my own sidewalk, and that fire in your cabin. I think I'd like to honeymoon at that cabin or maybe Hawaii.

Bering shrugged. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Emily, we can go anywhere you want.”

Her look was pure delight. Bering felt her happiness mixing with his, replacing the last remnants of the piercing sadness that had been a part of him for too long now.

“Anywhere?”

“Anywhere.”

Emily smiled slowly and said, “You know what? I would love to go anywhere with you, Bering, as long as we can always go home to Rankins.”

* * * * *